Apparatus for use with information storage medium containing enhanced AV (ENAV) buffer configuration information, reproducing method thereof and method for managing the buffer

ABSTRACT

A recording and/or reproducing apparatus for use with an information storage medium including ENAV buffer configuration information includes: an ENAV buffer in which an ENAV file is loaded; and an ENAV engine which interprets and reproduces the ENAV file, wherein the ENAV engine allocates at least a portion of the ENAV buffer as an updateable markup area on the basis of ENAV buffer configuration information, reads the ENAV file, and loads the ENAV file in the ENAV buffer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 2003-19965, filed on Mar. 31, 2003 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, Korean Patent Application No. 2003-61566, filed on Sep.3, 2003 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Korean PatentApplication No. 2003-61565, filed on Sep. 3, 2003 in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, and Korean Patent Application No.2003-61310, filed on Sep. 3, 2003 in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in theirentireties by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to an apparatus for reproducingcontents recorded on an information storage medium in an interactivemode, and more particularly, to a recording and/or reproducing apparatuscapable of reproducing Audio Video (AV) data in an interactive mode, amethod of managing an Enhanced AV (ENAV) buffer installed in therecording and/or reproducing apparatus, and an information storagemedium having information used to manage the ENAV buffer in theinteractive mode.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) which support an interactive modeto reproduce Audio Video (AV) data in the interactive mode in a PersonalComputer (PC) environment have been on the market and will be referredto as interactive DVDs. The interactive DVD contains markup documents asinteractive data for supporting interactive functions as well as the AVdata according to a conventional DVD-Video standard. The AV datarecorded on the interactive DVD can be displayed in two modes. One modeis a video mode in which an AV picture is displayed in the same form asa general DVD-Video. The other mode is an interactive mode in which bothan AV picture and a markup document are displayed in a manner that theAV picture is embedded in the markup document. For example, where the AVdata is a movie title, a corresponding movie is shown in a display on anAV picture area and various additional information (such as a scenarioof the movie, pictures of casts, etc.) is displayed on the remainingarea of the display except for the AV picture. area.

[0006] The additional information can be displayed in synchronizationwith the movie title (AV data). For example, when a specific actorappears, a markup document containing the actor's personal historyinformation is required and displayed. Furthermore, the markup documentdisplayed in the interactive mode allows interaction with a user. Forexample, if the user presses a button made on the markup document, thereis displayed the history information of an actor appearing on the AVpicture being presently reproduced.

[0007] However, in consumer devices (for example, home DVD player)capable of reproducing the interactive DVD (i.e., capable of supportingan interactive mode), a problem exists in buffer management forsupporting the interactive mode. FIGS. 1a and 1 b are reference viewsfor easily explaining a problem in a conventional technique.

[0008] Referring to FIG. 1A, a conventional Personal Computer (PC) 5includes a main buffer 55 with a capacity more than hundreds of megabytes (for example, 256 MB). The PC 5 further includes a hard disk 56 asan auxiliary buffer with a capacity more than dozens of giga bytes (forexample, 32 GB). Accordingly, when the PC 5 tries to receive data from aserver 9 over the Internet, there scarcely occur cases where the data isnot received due to space limitation of the buffer 55 or 56 for storingthe data.

[0009] However, as shown in FIG. 1B, a home DVD player 2 which isconnected to and used with a Television 1 has a lower buffer capacity ascompared to the PC 5. The buffer capacity is generally only a buffer 25of dozens of mega bytes (for example, 32 MB). Accordingly, when the homeDVD player 2 tries to access the server 9 over the Internet and receivedesired contents, the home DVD player 2 cannot accommodate the contentsif the server 9 provides the contents using a method in which contentsare stored in a buffer without limitation as in the PC 5.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] An aspect of the present invention provides a method for managinga buffer, a recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and an informationstorage medium thereof, capable of smoothly receiving and reproducingdesired contents using a lower capacity buffer without buffer shortagewhen receiving the desired contents from a server over the Internet, ina recording and/or reproducing apparatus such as a consumer devicecapable of supporting an interactive mode.

[0011] According to an aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of managing a buffer in an interactive device, themethod comprising: allocating at least a portion of an Enhanced AV(ENAV) buffer to be an updateable markup area for an ENAV file on thebasis of ENAV buffer configuration information; and loading apredetermined ENAV file using the allocated updateable markup area.

[0012] According to an aspect of the invention, the allocating the ENAVbuffer comprises: allocating the updateable markup area according toinformation of memory sizes included in the ENAV buffer configurationinformation, or allocating the updateable markup area according toinformation of memory names and sizes included in the ENAV bufferconfiguration information.

[0013] According to an aspect of the invention, the allocating the ENAVbuffer comprises reading ENAV buffer configuration information recordedin a loading information file, and the loading the predetermined ENAVfile comprises loading a corresponding ENAV file with reference toinformation of names and locations of the ENAV file recorded in theloading information file.

[0014] According to an aspect of the invention, the allocating the ENAVbuffer comprises reading ENAV buffer configuration information recordedin a loading information file using memory elements, reading as the ENAVbuffer configuration information names and sizes of memories recorded inthe loading information file using attributes of the memory elements, orreading a predetermined loading information file with reference to astartup file included in a directory provided for the ENAV file; andreading the ENAV buffer configuration information recorded in theloading information file.

[0015] According to an aspect of the invention, the loading thepredetermined ENAV file comprises loading the ENAV file stored in a diskin the updateable markup area with reference to the name and locationinformation of the ENAV file recorded in the loading information file,or requesting the ENAV file based on the name and location informationof the ENAV file recorded in the loading information file to a serverand loading an ENAV file provided from the server in the updateablemarkup area.

[0016] According to another aspect of the present invention, a buffermanagement method for providing a chat service in an interactive deviceincludes allocating at least a portion of an ENAV buffer to be anupdateable markup area for an ENAV file on the basis of ENAV bufferconfiguration information; and loading the ENAV file for providing thechat service in the allocated updateable markup area.

[0017] Meanwhile, according to another aspect of the present invention,there is provided an information storage medium comprising: at least anENAV file containing ENAV data, and ENAV buffer configurationinformation provided for allocating as an updateable markup area atleast a portion of the ENAV buffer in which the ENAV file is loaded.

[0018] According to an aspect of the invention, the ENAV bufferconfiguration information is recorded in a loading information fileincluding names and locations information of predetermined ENAV files tobe read in advance, is recorded in the loading information file using amemory element, is recorded as memory names and sizes in the loadinginformation file using an attribute of the memory element, or isrecorded in a loading information file linked to a startup file includedin a directory provided for the ENAV files.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, a recordingand/or reproducing apparatus, which reproduces AV data in an interactivemode, comprises: an ENAV buffer in which an ENAV file is loaded; and anENAV engine which interprets and reproduces the ENAV file, wherein theENAV engine allocates at least a portion of the ENAV buffer to be anupdateable markup area on the basis of ENAV buffer configurationinformation, reads the ENAV file, and loads the ENAV file in the ENAVbuffer.

[0020] According to an aspect of the invention, the ENAV engine readsthe ENAV buffer configuration information recorded in a loadinginformation file including names and locations information ofpredetermined ENAV files to be read in advance, reads the ENAV bufferconfiguration information recorded in the loading information file usinga memory element, reads as the ENAV buffer configuration informationmemory names and sizes recorded in the loading information file using anattribute of the memory element, or reads the ENAV buffer configurationinformation recorded in a loading information file linked to a startupfile included in a directory provided for the ENAV files.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present invention, a recordingand/or a reproducing apparatus, which reproduces AV data in aninteractive mode, comprises: an ENAV buffer in which an ENAV buffer forproviding a predetermined Internet service is loaded; and an ENAV enginewhich interprets and reproduces the ENAV file, wherein the ENAV engineallocates at least a portion of the ENAV buffer to be an updateablemarkup area on the basis of ENAV buffer configuration information, readsthe ENAV file, and loads the ENAV file in the ENAV buffer, therebyproviding the predetermined Internet service.

[0022] Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be setforth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will beobvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] These and/or other aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplaryembodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

[0024]FIGS. 1A and 1B are reference views for easily explaining aproblem in a conventional technique;

[0025]FIG. 2 schematically shows a recording and/or reproducing systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a recording and/or reproducingapparatus of FIG. 2;

[0027]FIG. 4 is a reference view for describing ENAV bufferconfiguration information according to an aspect of the inventions

[0028]FIG. 5 illustrates a volume space of a DVD according to anembodiment of the present invention;

[0029]FIG. 6 illustrates a directory structure of the DVD according toan embodiment of the present invention;

[0030]FIG. 7 shows an example of a startup file STARTUP.MLS according toan embodiment of the present invention;

[0031]FIG. 8 shows an example of a loading information fileLOADINGINFORMATION.LDI according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0032]FIG. 9 shows an example of a chat screen for a chat servicesupported by a recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 according toan embodiment of the present invention;

[0033]FIGS. 10 through 12 show examples of markup documents for achatwindow;

[0034]FIG. 13 is a view for explaining a communication process betweenthe recording and/or reproducing apparatus and a server for providingthe chat service according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035]FIGS. 14 and 15 show examples for executing operations (1) and(2), respectively, in the communication process of FIG. 13;

[0036]FIG. 16 is a view showing configuration information of anupdateable markup area decided based on Enhanced AV (ENAV) bufferconfiguration information, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0037]FIG. 17 shows a configuration of an updateable markup areaaccording to the configuration information of the updateable markup areaof FIG. 16; and

[0038]FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining a buffer management methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0039]FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining a buffer management methodaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0040] Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodimentsof the present invention, examples of the which will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Theembodiments are described below in order to explain the presentinvention by referring to the figures.

[0041] As used in this specification, “ENAV (ENhanced AV) data”indicates all data for supporting an interactive mode. For example, in acase where a DVD-Video is reproduced in an interactive mode, theinteractive data is classified into a markup document and a markupresource inserted in the markup document. The “markup document”indicates all documents (for example, A.xml) which are created usingmarkup languages including XML, HTML, etc. The “markup resource”indicates all files A.png, A.jpg, A.mpeg, etc. inserted in the A.xml.Specifically, the markup document acts as an application needed forreproducing AV data in an interactive mode itself, along with insertedprogram codes, or along with program codes provided as a separateexternal file, and simultaneously acts as ENAV data to be displayedtogether with the AV data.

[0042]FIG. 2 schematically shows a recording and/or reproducing systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.2, the recording and/or reproducing system records and/or reproducesdata with respect to a DVD 300, which is an information storage mediumaccording to an aspect of the present embodiment. The system includes arecording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 for use with the DVD 300, atelevision 100, which is a display device according to an aspect of thepresent embodiment, and a remote controller 400, which is a user inputdevice according to an aspect of the invention. The remote controller400 receives a control command from a user and transfers the command tothe recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200. The recording and/orreproducing apparatus 200 accesses the Internet and transmits orreceives desired ENAV data. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus200 performs buffer management for supporting an interactive mode usingthe ENAV data according an aspect of to the present invention. Thedetailed descriptions for the buffer management will be described below.While shown as being separate, it is understood that a display can bebuilt directly into the apparatus 200, such as for portable devices suchas portable DVD players, personal digital assistants, mobile phones, andother device having an integrated display.

[0043] Also, the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 includes aDVD drive (not shown) for reading data recorded on the DVD 300 and whichis included in the apparatus 200 or is connectable to the apparatus 200.If the DVD 300 is loaded in the DVD drive and a user selects theinteractive mode, the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200reproduces a corresponding AV data in the interactive mode using acorresponding markup document and transfers the reproduced result to thetelevision 100. The television 100 displays a combined picture of amarkup picture obtained from the markup document and an AV pictureembedded in the markup picture. The “interactive mode” indicates amethod of displaying AV data on a display window defined in a markupdocument, and more specifically, a method of displaying AV data so thatan AV picture is embedded in an interactive picture. Here, the AVpicture represents a reproduced picture of the AV data displayed on atelevision 100, and the interactive picture represents a picture beingshown in the interactive mode (i.e. a picture in which an AV picture isembedded). The “video mode” indicates a method of reproducing AV dataaccording to a method defined in a conventional DVD-Video (i.e. a methodof displaying on a television 100 only an AV picture obtained byreproducing the corresponding AV data).

[0044] In the present embodiment, the recording and/or reproducingapparatus 200 supports both the interactive mode and the video mode.However, it is understood that the apparatus 200 need not support bothmodes. Moreover, it is understood that the DVD 300 can be other readonly, write-once, or rewritable storage media including, but not limitedto magnetic media, magneto optical media, optical media, such as CompactDiscs, and next generation DVD including Blue ray discs, AdvancedOptical Discs (AODs), or E-DVD, flash media, or other media.Additionally, the user input device need not be the remote controller400, and can be a touch screen display, a keyboard, a mouse, or anydevice by which commands are input. While described, in terms of atelevision 100, it is understood that other types of displays can beused, such as flat panel displays, plasma display panels, liquid crystaldisplays and/or OLEDs. Lastly, while not shown, it is understood thatthe audio produced by the apparatus 200 can be output through speakersincluded in the apparatus 200, or through speakers, head phones or otheraudio output device connectable to the apparatus 200 to output audiodata.

[0045]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the recording and/or reproducingapparatus 200 according to an aspect of the invention. Referring to FIG.3, the reproducing apparatus 200 comprises an AV buffer 201, an ENAVbuffer 202, an AV recording and/or reproducing engine 203, and an ENAVengine 204. The AV buffer 201 is a buffer for buffering the AV data andthe ENAV buffer 202 is a buffer for buffering ENAV data. In the shownembodiment, the AV data is DVD-Video data recorded on the DVD 300according to a DVD-Video format. However, the AV data can be of otherformats, such as formats being received from the Internet. In the shownembodiment, the ENAV data includes markup documents and/or markupresources. The AV buffer 201 and the ENAV buffer 202 can be separatememory chips or can be one memory chip in hardware. Moreover, whiledescribed in terms of video, it is understood that the AV data can beaudio data, such as DVD-Audio, be image data or video data, or otherdata which is read from the DVD 300 or other type of storage medium andreproduced with the ENAV data in the interactive mode.

[0046] The AV reproducing engine 203 decodes and outputs the AV data. Inthe shown embodiment, the AV reproducing engine 203 includes an MPEGdecoder capable of decoding DVD-Video data. The ENAV engine 204 is aninterpretation engine that interprets and executes the ENAV data to becombined and displayed with the decoded AV data in the interactive mode.The ENAV engine 204 supports the interactive mode and the video mode. Inview of software used in an embodiment of the invention, the ENAV engine204 includes a markup document viewer that interprets and shows themarkup documents, a browser for getting desired data from the Internet,and a markup resource decoder that decodes the markup resources. Theoutput from the ENAV engine 204 and the output from the AV reproducingengine 203 are blended, to form an interactive picture. The interactivepicture is displayed on the television 100.

[0047] The present applicant has filed a plurality of patentapplications related to various methods in which an AV picture isembedded and displayed in an interactive picture. For example, there areKorean Patent Application No. 01-33526 filed on Jun. 14, 2001 (filed inthe United States as United States patent application Ser. No.10/170,419), Korean Patent Application No. 01-64943 filed on Oct. 20,2001 (filed in the United States as United States patent applicationSer. No. 10/165,427), Korean Patent Application No. 01-65391 filed onOct. 23, 2001 (filed in the United States as United States patentapplication Ser. No. 10/277,094), and Korean Patent Application No.02-50524 filed on Aug. 26, 2002 (filed in the United States as U.Spatent application Ser. No. 10/647,445), the disclosures of which areincorporated by reference. As such, additional details with regard tothese methods are not provided.

[0048] Furthermore, the ENAV engine 204 manages the ENAV buffer 202according to an aspect of the present invention. That is, the ENAVengine 204 allocates a desired area within the ENAV buffer 202 forloading a desired ENAV file containing ENAV data on the basis of ENAVbuffer configuration information to be an updateable markup area. TheENAV engine 204 then loads the corresponding ENAV file in the allocatedarea. A file containing the ENAV data is called an ENAV file. Also, theENAV engine 204 manages the updateable markup area of the ENAV buffer202 according to configuration information of the updateable markuparea.

[0049]FIG. 4 is a reference view for describing ENAV bufferconfiguration information according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 4, the ENAV buffer 202 is divided logicallyand physically into two areas A and B. The area A is the updateablemarkup area and is an area allocated for storing ENAV data, markupdocuments, and markup resources. The area B is a normal area and is usedfor storing markup documents not requiring updating, for example, aCascade Style Sheet (CSS) file designating a style of a markup document,a script file, an image file, a font file, etc. That is, the ENAV bufferconfiguration information includes information regarding a size of anupdateable markup area in the ENAV buffer 202. The remaining areaexcluding the size is the normal area. As such, since the ENAV buffer202 includes the updateable markup area, an Internet service (forexample, a chat service) to be described later can be provided althougha storage capacity of the ENAV buffer 202 is small.

[0050] As a detailed embodiment, a chat service that is provided usingthe updateable markup area is described as follows. However, it isunderstood that other Internet Services can be used instead of or inaddition to the chat service.

[0051]FIG. 5 illustrates a volume space of the DVD 300 according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the volumespace of the DVD 300 includes a Volume and File control informationarea, an AV data area, an ENAV data area, and an other data area. TheVolume and File control information area stores volume and file controlinformation for the whole DVD 300. The AV data area stores video titles,VIDEO_TS.IFO, VTS_01_0.IFO, VTS_01_0.VOB, and the like, with each titlebeing the AV data recorded according to the DVD-Video format.VIDEO_TS.IFO is a file including reproduction control information forall the video titles. The VTS_01_0.VOB, VTS_01_1.VOB and the like arefiles for constructing a video title set (i.e., video objects (VOB)).Each VOB contains a video object unit (VOBU) including a navigationpack, a video pack, and an audio pack. The detailed construction thereofis disclosed in a DVD-Video standard, “DVD-Video for Read Only Memorydisc 1.0,” the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, and istherefore not repeated.

[0052] The ENAV data area stores the ENAV data for supporting aninteractive mode. That is, the interactive data area stores a markupdocument, such as STARTUP.MLS, to be displayed first when theinteractive mode is selected, an loading information file, such asLoadingInformation.LDI, containing configuration information of anupdateable markup area, and ENAV buffer configuration informationaccording an aspect of to the present invention. The interactive dataarea further stores markup document files, such as CHATTITLE.HTM andCHATROOM.HTM for providing a chat service. Additionally, the interactivedata area includes markup resources, such as C1.PNG, C2.PNG, . . . . Theother data area stores files containing the other data.

[0053]FIG. 6 illustrates a directory structure of the DVD 300 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, a rootdirectory has a video directory VIDEO_TS including the AV data. Thevideo directory VIDEO_TS includes a file VIDEO_TS.IFO, which storesnavigation information for the video titles, a file VTS_01_0.IFO, whichstores navigation information for a first video title set, and filesVTS_01_0.VOB, VTS_01_1.VOB, . . . , for constructing the video titleset. The root directory also includes an interactive directory DVD_ENAV,which stores the information for supporting the interactive mode. Theinteractive directory DVD_ENAV includes the markup document STARTUP.MLSto be displayed with a video title, the loading information fileLoadingInformation.LDI containing configuration information of anupdateable markup area and ENAV buffer configuration informationaccording aspects of to the present invention, markup documentsCHATTITLE.HTM and CHATROOM.HTM for providing a chat service, and themarkup resources CL.PNG, C2.PNG.

[0054]FIG. 7 shows an example of a startup file STARTUP.MLS according toan embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7, a startupfile STARTUP.MLS as a markup document created with a markup languageincludes an element “loadinginfo”. The label C indicates a portion ofthe STARTUP.MLS which links a loading information file to the startupfile using the element “loadinginfo”. That is, the element “loadinginfo”links the loading information file LoadingInformation.LDI shown in FIG.8 including location information of required ENAV files to the startupfile, in order to load the required ENAV files to be reproduced in aninteractive mode. As described above, the loading information fileincludes the ENAV buffer configuration information according to anaspect of the present invention.

[0055]FIG. 8 shows an example of a loading information fileLoadingInformation.LDI according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 8, in the shown loading information fileLOADINGINFORMATION.LDI, a label D indicates a portion which stores theENAV buffer configuration information using an element “memory.” Theelement “memory” is an empty element without nesting other elements andhas two attributes for indicating a name of a memory area and a memorysize. The shown attributes are a “name” attribute and a “size”attribute. The “name” attribute specifies the name of the memory area.As shown, “um” indicates an updateable markup area. The “size” attributeindicates the size of a memory area. The size of a memory area isdependent on the size of the ENAV buffer 202. For example, if the ENAVbuffer 202 is 36 MB, the memory area can have a size from 0 byte to 36MB. It is understood that the attributes can be otherwise provided, andthat the name can be any name and need not be “um” in all aspects of theinvention.

[0056] In the shown embodiment, the “name” attribute is “um” and the“size” attribute is “6KB”. Thus, the shown element “memory” indicatesthat 6 KB is allocated to be an updateable markup area designated as“um” of the ENAV buffer 202. The remaining area is a normal area.

[0057] Further, the loading information file stores names and locationsinformation of ENAV files to be loaded in advance in the buffer 202according to an aspect of the invention. In the shown example, the filesto be loaded in advance are for providing the chat service. A file whichshould be first displayed for the chat service is represented by amarkup document CHATROOM.HTM using an element “initial”. The remainingrequired files are represented respectively by markup documentsCHATTITLE.HTM, CL.PNG, C2.PNG, INPUT.HTM, P1.GIF, DIALOG.HTM, andDIALOG.CSS, using elements of “entity”. Here, it is seen that the markupdocuments CHATTITLE.HTM, CL.PNG, and C2.PNG are stored on the DVD 300.It is also shown that the markup documents INPUT.HTM, P1 .GIF,DIALOG.HTM, and DIALOG.CSS are stored in an Internet server 90 shown onFIG. 13 located at “http://www.company.com.” Specifically, it is seenthat the markup documents DIALOG.HTM and DIALOG.CSS are loaded to theupdateable markup area as these files are designated for the “um”section of the ENAV buffer 202.

[0058]FIG. 9 shows an example of a chat screen for a chat servicesupported by the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 according toan embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 9, the chatscreen has a conversation window that displays conversation contentsbetween users participating a chat, and an input window to which oneparty participating the chat inputs his/her texts. If a user inputshis/her texts on the input window and clicks a send button <send> madeon the chat screen, the recording an/or reproducing apparatus 200 sendsthe texts to a server 90 shown in FIG. 13 which provides the chatservice over the Internet. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus200 displays an updated markup document and accordingly the texts justinput by the user are displayed on the conversation window.

[0059] FIGS.10 through 12 show exemplary markup documents for the chatscreen of FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 10, a markup document CHATROOM.HTMis stored on the DVD 300 and is a markup document to be first displayedwhen a user selects the chat service. The markup document CHATROOM.HTMis linked with a markup document CHATTITLE.HTM stored in the disk 300for displaying a chat title, and is also linked with a markup documentDIALOG.HTM which is stored in a server 90 shown in FIG. 13 located athttp://www.company.com providing the chat service and is frequentlyupdated for displaying a conversation window. Referring to FIG. 11, themarkup document DIALOG.HTM is updated whenever the user inputs his/hertexts and indicates that it is a markup document provided from theserver 90 shown in FIG. 13 located at http://www.company.com. Referringto FIG. 12, a markup document INPUT.HTM is provided from the server 90shown in FIG. 13 located at http://www.company.com to display an inputwindow on a chat screen.

[0060]FIG. 13 is a view for explaining a communication process betweenthe recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 and the server 90 forproviding the chat service according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 13, the recording and/or reproducingapparatus 200 includes the ENAV buffer 202 with a predeterminedcapacity. The server 90 provides a chat service to the recording and/orreproducing apparatus 200 over the Internet. The recording and/orreproducing apparatus 200 and the server 90 perform communicationsaccording to a client-server model. In this embodiment, communication isperformed according to a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) protocol ofTCP/IP on the basis of the client-server model. However, it isunderstood that other client-server models and/or protocols can be used.

[0061] If the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 accesses theserver 90 and requests a markup document DIALOG.HTM for displaying aconversation window using a GET command (communication operation (1)),the server 90 sends the requested markup document DIALOG.HTM to therecording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 (communication operation(2)). It is understood that the recording and/or reproducing apparatus200 can use a PUSH command instead of the GET command. Likewise, if therecording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 requests a markup documentINPUT.HTM for displaying the input window using the GET command(communication operation (3)), and requests a markup resource P1.GIF(communication operation (4)), the server 90 sends the requested markupdocument INPUTHTM and the markup resource P1.GIF to the recording and/orreproducing apparatus 200 (communication operations (5) and (6)).

[0062] Meanwhile, when updating a desired file (markup document and/ormarkup resource), the server 90 makes the corresponding file have a sizeequal to or small than a buffer capacity allocated to the correspondingfile, as will be described later, so that the recording and/orreproducing apparatus 200 can correctly receive the updated file.

[0063]FIGS. 14 and 15 show examples for executing operations (1) and(2), respectively, in the communication process of FIG. 10. FIG. 14shows an example of a case of getting a markup document DIALOG.HTM fordisplaying a conversation window on a chat screen using a loadinginformation file LOADINFO.LDI containing the ENAV buffer configurationinformation. In FIG. 14,operation (1) shows the configuration of arequest header for allowing the recording and/or reproducing apparatus200 to send a GET command to the server 90 according to the HTTPprotocol, (i.e., a REQUEST Header). Specifically, a “User-Agent”indicates a type of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200, and“Referer:” indicates that a document referring to the markup documentDIALOG.HTM is a buffer configuration information file LOADINFO.LDIstored in the interactive directory of the DVD 300.

[0064] Operation (2) is the configuration of a response headertransmitted from the server 90 responding to the GET command from thereproducing apparatus 200 as a client, according to the HTTP protocol,(i.e., a RESPONSE Header). Specifically, “Last-modified:” can indicatethat the markup document DIALOG.HTM is a document being updated in theserver 90 (that is, a changeable document). Accordingly, if there are no“Last-modified:” in the RESPONSE header from the server 90, therecording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 can consider thecorresponding markup document or the corresponding markup resource as anon-changeable document.

[0065]FIG. 15 shows an example of a case of getting a markup documentDIALOG.HTM for displaying a conversation window on a chat screen using amarkup document CHATROOM.HTM. Operation (1) shows the configuration of arequest header for allowing the recording and/or reproducing apparatus200 to send a GET command to the server 90 according to the HTTPprotocol (i.e., a REQUEST Header). Specifically, a “User-Agent”indicates a type of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200, and“Referer:” indicates that a document referring to the markup documentDIALOG.HTM is a markup document CHATROOM.HTM stored in the interactivedirectory of the DVD 300. Operation (2) shows the configuration of aresponse header transmitted from the server 90 responding to the GETcommand from the reproducing apparatus 200 as a client, according to theHTTP protocol, (i.e., a RESPONSE Header). Specifically, a“Last-modified:” can indicate that the markup document DIALOG.HTM is adocument being updated in the server 90 (that is, a changeabledocument). Accordingly, if there are no “Last-modified:” in the RESPONSEHeader from the server 90, the recording and/or; reproducing apparatus200 can consider the corresponding markup document or the correspondingmarkup resource as a non-changeable document. As shown in operation (2)of FIG. 15, the “Last-Modified:” indicates a modification of thedocument since the operation (2) shown in FIG. 14, indicating achangeable document to be updated in the allocated area.

[0066]FIG. 16 is a view showing configuration information of anupdateable markup area decided based on the ENAV buffer configurationinformation, according to an embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 16, the configuration information of the updateablemarkup area is information recorded on the DVD 300 (included in theloading information file for the chat service in this embodiment). Theconfiguration information includes location information of the ENAVfiles and size information of buffer areas to be allocated to thecorresponding ENAV files. Also, the configuration information of theupdateable markup area can further include information indicatingformats of the corresponding ENAV files and information indicatingwhether the corresponding ENAV files are updated in the server 90.However, it is understood that the configuration information couldcontain additional information.

[0067] The location information indicates the location of the ENAV fileas being on the server 90 capable of communicating with the recordingand/or reproducing apparatus 200 including the ENAV buffer 202, or onthe DVD 300 loaded in the reproducing apparatus 200 including the ENAVbuffer 202. As shown, the location information indicating the server 90is represented as ‘http://www.company.com/DIALOG.HTM’, and locationinformation indicating the DVD 300 is represented as‘file://DVD_ENAV/CHATROOM.HTM’. The shown memory size informationrepresents 5 KBytes. However, it is understood that all files do notneed to include the memory size information. Meanwhile, text/xml+chat(yes) as an example of a file type (update), indicates that thecorresponding file is a text file, is an xml document, is used forchatting, and is updated in the server 90 (yes). While shown as being atthe same server 90, it is understood that the location can be frommultiple servers. Moreover, the non-internet files need not all be fromthe DVD 300 and instead might be read from other memories or drivesaccessible by the apparatus 200.

[0068]FIG. 17 shows a configuration of an updateable markup areaaccording to the configuration information of the updateable markup areaof FIG. 16. Referring to FIG. 17, in the ENAV buffer 202, buffer areasare allocated according to the configuration information of the markuparea of FIG. 16. More specifically, because a buffer size to be reservedfor DIALOG.HTM stored at http://www.company.com/DIALOG.HTM is 5 KBytes,the buffer area of 5 KBytes is allocated to DIALOG.HTM. Also, becauseDIALOG.CSS stored at http://www.company.com/DIALOG.CSS is 1 KBytes, thebuffer area of 1 KByte is allocated to DIALOG.CSS. Because there is nobuffer size information for INPUT.HTM and P1.GIF stored respectively athttp://www.company.com/INPUTHTM and at http://www.company.com/P1.GIF,the buffer areas for INPUTHTM and P1.GIF are determined by the server90. The server 90 can allocate a size of a transmitting file through‘Content-length:’ of a RESPONSE Header, as described above withreference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

[0069] File://DVD_ENAV/CHATROOM. HTM, file://DVD_ENAV/CHATTITLE.HTM,file://DVD_ENAV/C1.PNG, and file://DVD_ENAV/C2.PNG indicate thatcorresponding files thereof, CHATROOM.HTM, CHATTITLE.HTM, C1.PNG, andC2.PNG are stored in the DVD 300, respectively. Therefore, the bufferareas for the files are allocated according to file sizes set by a filesystem of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200.

[0070] Buffer management methods according to embodiments of the presentinvention will be described below in reference to FIGS. 18 and 19 on thebasis of the above-described configuration.

[0071]FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining a buffer management methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.18, when the DVD 300 is loaded in the recording and/or reproducingapparatus 200 and a user selects an interactive mode, the reproducingapparatus 200 opens a startup file STARTUP.MLS included in the DVD_ENAVdirectory and reads a loading information file LoadingInformation.LDIcontaining the ENAV buffer configuration information according to anaspect of the present invention which is linked to the startup fileSTARTUP.MLS in operation 1801. The recording and/or reproducingapparatus 200 checks the ENAV buffer configuration information throughthe loading information file in operation 1802 and allocates anupdateable markup area in the ENAV buffer 202 according to the checkedresult in operation 1803. The remaining area of the ENAV buffer 202 is anormal area as has been described above.

[0072]FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining a buffer management methodaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring toFIG. 19, when a user selects a chat service, the recording and/orreproducing apparatus 200 interprets a startup file recorded on the DVD300, and reads a loading information file containing configurationinformation of an updateable markup area as ENAV buffer configurationinformation for providing the selected chat service (operation 1901).

[0073] The recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 determines throughinformation included in the loading information file whether a file tobe loaded in an ENAV buffer 202 exists (operation 1902). If no file tobe loaded in the ENAV buffer 202 exists, the reproducing apparatus 200interprets a document to be initially displayed on a screen and displaysthe interpreted document on the screen (operation 1903).

[0074] If a file to be loaded in the ENAV buffer 202 exists, therecording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 determines whether a size ofthe file has been set (operation 1904). If the file size has been set,the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 reserves a buffer areacorresponding to the set file size (operation 1906). If the file sizehas not been set, the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 detectsa location of the file (operation 1907). If the file is stored in theDVD 300 according to the detected result, the recording and/orreproducing apparatus 200 reserves a buffer area corresponding to a sizedefined by a file system (operation 1908). For instance, the file systemcan have information of a name, attribute, and size of a file such thatthe size defined by a file system indicates a size of the file stored onthe DVD 300. If the file is stored in the server 90 according to thedetected result, the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 reservesa buffer area corresponding to a size defined by the server 90(operation 1909).

[0075] When a buffer area is reserved in operation 1910, the recordingand/or reproducing apparatus 200 loads the corresponding file to thereserved buffer area (operation 1911). If no buffer area is reserved,the recording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 sends a messageindicating that no buffer area is reserved and process is terminated(operation 1912). Lastly, if a request requiring another bufferconfiguration information is generated while a user searches for amarkup document, the process is returned to operation 1902 and the sameoperations are repeated for the another buffer configurationinformation.

[0076] If the user searches for the markup document and determines thatDIALOG.HTM is updated in the server 90, the recording and/or reproducingapparatus 200 receives the updated DIALOG.HTM from the server 90. If theserver 90 controls the size of the updated markup document to be withina predetermined buffer size (in the above example, 5 KBytes) whenupdating the markup document (and/or markup resource), the recordingand/or reproducing apparatus 200 can correctly process and display theupdated contents without error generation due to a buffer shortage.Furthermore, if a request needing another memory configurationinformation is generated when the markup document is searched for, therecording and/or reproducing apparatus 200 is returned to operation 1902and repeats the same operations.

[0077] The buffer management methods shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 may beembodied in a general or special purpose digital computer by running aprogram encoded on a computer readable medium readable by the computer.The computer readable medium including, but not limited to, storagemedia such as magnetic storage media (e.g. ROM's, floppy disks, harddisks, etc.), optically readable media (e.g., CD-ROMs, DVDs, nextgeneration DVD such as Bluray discs and AODs, rewritable and write oncemedia, etc.), magneto-optical media and carrier waves (e.g.,transmissions over the Internet). It is understood that the server 90can be connected through various networks including, but not limited to,wireless networks, LAN, WAN, private intranets instead of or in additionto the internet. Additionally, while the ENAV files are described asbeing on the server 90, it is understood that the ENAV files can bestored on any external media connected to the apparatus 200 to providethe ENAV files. Lastly, while shown as being divided into two areas, itis understood that the ENAV buffer 202 can be allocated such that morethan two areas exist.

[0078] As described above, according to the aspects of presentinvention, when a server provides desired contents to a recording and/orreproducing apparatus as a consumer device supporting an interactivemode, it is possible to adaptively control the size of the contentsaccording to a buffer capacity of the reproducing apparatus, and toallocate a memory using a decisive method in a recording and/orreproducing apparatus being a consumer device with a limited buffercapacity in a manner that the reproducing apparatus reserves a bufferarea for an ENAV file in advance before receiving the ENAV file from theserver. Accordingly, it is possible to output on a screen markupdocuments and/or markup resources being freely updated in the Internet,only if a contents provider creates and provides smaller contents than apredetermined size according to memory configuration information.

[0079] The markup documents and/or markup resources being freely updatedin the Internet include a chat service, a service of providing stockinformation, a service of providing news, a purchased product list forinternet shopping, and other such information to be displayed as aninteractive mode. Lastly, the apparatus using the interactive mode canbe a stand-alone player/recorder, a portable player/recorder, and anyother device which can reproduce in the interactive mode and for whichbuffer control is required. Moreover, the medium and method of thepresent invention can be used in a personal computer so as to controland manage the buffer capacities for more efficient use of computationalresources.

[0080] While the present invention has been particularly shown anddescribed with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will beunderstood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes inform and details may be made therein without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention as defined by the following claimsand equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A recording and/or reproducing apparatus whichreproduces audio and/or video (AV) data read from a storage medium in aninteractive mode, the apparatus comprising: an ENAV buffer in which isloaded an ENAV file; and an ENAV engine which interprets and reproducesthe buffered ENAV file to be reproduced with the AV data in theinteractive mode, wherein the ENAV engine allocates at least a portionof the ENAV buffer as an updateable markup area based on ENAV bufferconfiguration information, reads the ENAV file, and loads the ENAV filein the updateable markup area of the ENAV buffer.
 2. The recordingand/or reproducing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: an AVbuffer in which is loaded an AV file containing the AV data read fromthe storage medium; and an AV reproducing engine which reproduces thebuffered AV file from the AV buffer.
 3. The recording and/or reproducingapparatus of claim 1, wherein: the ENAV file is one of a plurality ofENAV files used in the interactive mode, a loading information fileincludes the ENAV buffer configuration information, and the ENAV enginereads the ENAV buffer configuration information included in the loadinginformation file to obtain information regarding a name and a locationof a predetermined one of the plurality of ENAV files to be first readbefore remaining ones of the ENAV files.
 4. The recording and/orreproducing apparatus of claim 1, wherein: a loading information fileincludes the ENAV buffer configuration information, and the ENAV enginereads the ENAV buffer configuration information recorded in the loadinginformation file using a memory element to indicate the ENAV file is tobe buffered in the updateable markup area instead of in another area ofthe ENAV buffer.
 5. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim1, wherein: a loading information file includes the ENAV bufferconfiguration information, and the ENAV engine reads as the ENAV bufferconfiguration information, a name and a size of a memory area recordedin the loading information file using attributes of a memory element toindicate the ENAV file is to be buffered in the updateable markup areainstead of another area of the ENAV buffer.
 6. The recording and/orreproducing apparatus of claim 1, wherein: a loading information fileincludes the ENAV buffer configuration information, a start up file isincluded in a directory for the ENAV file and is linked to the loadinginformation file, and the ENAV engine detects the startup file from thedirectory, and reads the ENAV buffer configuration information recordedin the loading information file linked to the startup file.
 7. Arecording and/or reproducing apparatus which reproduces audio and/orvideo (AV) data from a storage medium in an interactive mode, theapparatus comprising: an ENAV buffer in which is to be loaded an ENAVfile for providing a predetermined Internet service; and an ENAV enginewhich interprets and reproduces the buffered ENAV file to be reproducedwith the AV data in the interactive mode, wherein the ENAV engineallocates at least a portion of the ENAV buffer as an updateable markuparea based on ENAV buffer configuration information, reads the ENAVfile, and loads the ENAV file into the updateable markup area of theENAV buffer to provide the predetermined Internet service in theinteractive mode.
 8. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim7, further comprising: an AV buffer in which is loaded an AV filecontaining the AV data read from the storage medium; and an AVreproducing engine which reproduces the buffered AV file.
 9. Therecording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim 7, wherein: the ENAVfile is one of a plurality of ENAV files used in the interactive mode, aloading information file includes the ENAV buffer configurationinformation; and the ENAV engine reads the ENAV buffer configurationinformation to obtain information regarding a name and a location of apredetermined one of the ENAV files to be first read.
 10. The recordingand/or reproducing apparatus of claim 7, wherein: a loading informationfile includes the ENAV buffer configuration information; and the ENAVengine reads the ENAV buffer configuration information using a memoryelement that indicates whether the ENAV file is to be buffered in theupdateable markup area.
 11. The recording and/or reproducing apparatusof claim 7, wherein: a loading information file includes the ENAV bufferconfiguration information; and the ENAV engine reads as the ENAV bufferconfiguration information, a name and a size of a memory area recordedin the loading information file using attributes of a memory element inthe loading information file and which indicates whether the ENAV fileis to be buffered in the allocated portion of the ENAV buffer.
 12. Therecording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim 7, wherein: a loadinginformation file includes the ENAV buffer configuration information; astartup file is in a directory including the ENAV file and is linked tothe loading information file, and the ENAV engine detects the loadinginformation file from the startup file read from the directory, andreads the ENAV buffer configuration information recorded in the loadinginformation file linked to the startup file.
 13. The recording and/orreproducing apparatus of claim 4, wherein: the loading information fileis stored on the storage medium which stores the AV data, and the ENAVengine reads the ENAV buffer configuration information using the loadinginformation file read from the storage medium.
 14. The recording and/orreproducing apparatus of claim 13, wherein: the memory element indicatesa location of the ENAV file as being on another storage medium otherthan the storage medium from which the AV data is read, and a locationof another ENAV file as being on the storage medium, and the ENAV engineloads one of the ENAV files determined to be an updateable markup fileto be buffered into the allocated updateable markup area of the ENAVbuffer, and loads the other one of the ENAV files determined not to bean updateable markup file into another portion of the ENAV buffer otherthan the updateable markup area and which is not allocated for theupdateable markup file.
 15. The recording and/or reproducing apparatusof claim 14, wherein the another storage medium comprises a serverconnected to the ENAV buffer.
 16. A recording and/or reproducingapparatus which reproduces first data and interactive data read from astorage medium in an interactive mode, the apparatus comprising: a firstengine which reproduces the first data for use in the interactive mode;a buffer in which is loaded an interactive file to be reproduced withthe first data in the interactive mode; and an engine which detectsconfiguration information from the interactive data read from thestorage medium for the interactive file to be read, allocates a portionof the buffer to be reserved for an updateable interactive file prior toreceiving the interactive file, uses the configuration information tobuffer the interactive file to be reproduced in the allocated portion ifthe interactive file is the updateable interactive file, and reproducesthe interactive file from the allocated portion to be reproduced withthe reproduced first data in the interactive mode.
 17. The recordingand/or reproducing apparatus of claim 16, wherein the engine interpretsthe configuration information using the interactive data reproduced fromthe storage medium.
 18. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus ofclaim 17, wherein the interactive data read from the storage mediumincludes buffer allocation information, and the engine allocates theallocated area of the buffer using the buffer allocation information.19. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim 16, wherein theconfiguration information includes buffer allocation information, andthe engine allocates the allocated area of the buffer using the bufferallocation information.
 20. The recording and/or reproducing apparatusof claim 16, wherein the engine allocates the allocated area of thebuffer using size information provided by another storage mediumexternal to the storage medium and which provides the interactive fileto the apparatus.
 21. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus ofclaim 20, further comprising another apparatus connected to theinteractive buffer through a network, wherein the another storage mediumis in the another apparatus.
 22. The recording and/or reproducingapparatus of claim 21, wherein the another apparatus comprises a server.23. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim 16, wherein theengine allocates the allocated area of the buffer using size informationprovided by a size detected from the interactive file to be read fromthe storage medium.
 24. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus ofclaim 16, wherein the engine detects a loading information fileindicating an order of interactive files to be reproduced, and buffersthe interactive file in the buffer using the loading information file.25. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim 16, wherein: theengine detects a loading information file indicating: a location of theinteractive file to be reproduced using information that indicates anddistinguishes between a location on one of the storage medium and onanother storage medium other than the storage medium, and bufferinformation of the interactive file using information that indicates anddistinguishes that the interactive file is to be buffered in one of theallocated portion of the buffer and another portion of the buffer notallocated for the updateable interactive file, and the engineselectively buffers the interactive file in the allocated and anotherportions of the buffer according to the buffer information.
 26. Therecording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim 16, wherein, if theinteractive file has been updated as compared to the interactive filecurrently buffered, the engine buffers the updated interactive file inthe allocated portion to replace the interactive file currentlybuffered.
 27. The recording and/or reproducing apparatus of claim 26,wherein the interactive file and the updated interactive file arebuffered from another storage medium connected to the buffer and otherthan the storage medium having the first data.
 28. The recording and/orreproducing apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a display,wherein: the first data includes an image, and the first enginereproduces the first data to provide the image to be displayed in afirst portion of the display and the engine reproduces the interactivefile to provide an interactive display in a second portion of thedisplay other than the first portion.
 29. The recording and/reproducingapparatus of claim 28, further comprising an audio output, wherein thefirst data includes audio data to be reproduced through the audio outputwith the image.
 30. The recording and/reproducing apparatus of claim 28,wherein the first data includes a video comprising the image.
 31. Therecording and/reproducing apparatus of claim 16, further comprising anaudio output, wherein the first data includes audio data to bereproduced through the audio output as the reproduced interactive fileis reproduced.